Medri Bahri was an Eritrean Kingdom established in the early fourteenth century. The capital of Medri Bahri was Deba-ruba also known as Dibarwa. Medri Bahri was ruled by the Bahri Negassi who was elected by the people of Medri Bahri. [1] According to Mordecai Abir’s history of Ethiopia and the Red Sea, Medri Bahri was a vassal state to the larger Ethiopian Kingdom. [2] In the late 19th century, Medri Bahri was occupied by Italy. [3]
[1]: (Cliffe and Basil 1988, 12-13) Cliffe, Lionel and Basil, Davidson. 1988. The Long Struggle of Eritrea for Independence and Constructive Peace. Trenton, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZBEU6QM6/collection
[2]: (Abir 2008, 544). Abir, Mordechai. 2008. ‘Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa’. In The Cambridge History of Africa c. 1600 – c.1790. Edited by Richard Grey. Vol 4. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/search/Abir/titleCreatorYear/items/JHH9VH96/item-list
[3]: (Cervenka 1977, 38) Cervenka, Zdenek. 1977. ‘Eritrea: Struggle for Self-Determination or Succession?’. Africa Spectrum. Vol 12:1. Pp 37-48. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/A5UBT4ZQ/collection
| 37 N |
| Medri Bahri |
| Deba-ruba |
| Baher Meder | |
| Medri Bahre |
| Year Range | Medri Bahri (er_medri_bahri) was in: |
|---|
“Medri-Bahri was ruled by Bahri Negassi; and Deba-ruba became the seat of his kingdom. The Bahri-Negassi was independently elected by the people of Medri-Bahri.” [1] The Alternative name spellings of the capital is Dibarwa or Debarwa.
[1]: (Cliffe and Basil 1988, 12-13) Cliffe, Lionel and Basil, Davidson. 1988. The Long Struggle of Eritrea for Independence and Constructive Peace. Trenton, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZBEU6QM6/collection
“In 750 A.D., the Bejas established five independent kingdoms: Nagash, Belgin, Bazin, Jarin and Quaitala. These kingdoms exercised political domination in Eritrea and northeastern Sudan until the fourteenth and fifteenth century. After the fourteenth century, Eritrea came to be known as the country of Medri-Bahri (Land of the Sea).” [1] “In 1885, Italy took possession of the Eritrean coast with the encouragement of Great Britain, which was interested in Italian collaboration in its fight against the Mahdi of the Sudan. The Eritrean resistance collapsed only after a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation had been concluded in 1889 between the King of Italy and Emperor Menelik of Showa, the predecessor of Emperor Halie Selassie.” [2]
[1]: (Cliffe and Basil 1988, 12) Cliffe, Lionel and Basil, Davidson. 1988. The Long Struggle of Eritrea for Independence and Constructive Peace. Trenton, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZBEU6QM6/collection
[2]: (Cervenka 1977, 38) Cervenka, Zdenek. 1977. ‘Eritrea: Struggle for Self-Determination or Succession?’. Africa Spectrum. Vol 12:1. Pp 37-48. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/A5UBT4ZQ/collection
“In 1885, Italy took possession of the Eritrean coast with the encouragement of Great Britain, which was interested in Italian collaboration in its fight against the Mahdi of the Sudan. The Eritrean resistance collapsed only after a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation had been concluded in 1889 between the King of Italy and Emperor Menelik of Showa, the predecessor of Emperor Halie Selassie.” [1]
[1]: (Cervenka 1977, 38) Cervenka, Zdenek. 1977. ‘Eritrea: Struggle for Self-Determination or Succession?’. Africa Spectrum. Vol 12:1. Pp 37-48. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/A5UBT4ZQ/collection
NB Bazin chosen as "preceding quasipolity" somewhat arbitrarily. “In 750 A.D., the Bejas established five independent kingdoms: Nagash, Belgin, Bazin, Jarin and Quaitala. These kingdoms exercised political domination in Eritrea and northeastern Sudan until the fourteenth and fifteenth century. After the fourteenth century, Eritrea came to be known as the country of Medri-Bahri (Land of the Sea).” [1]
[1]: (Cliffe and Basil 1988, 12) Cliffe, Lionel and Basil, Davidson. 1988. The Long Struggle of Eritrea for Independence and Constructive Peace. Trenton, New Jersey: The Red Sea Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/ZBEU6QM6/collection
“The common language and culture of the Tigrinya-speaking people on both sides of the Mareb River was reinforced by continual population movement between the Eritrean and Tigray regions, with many Tigrayans immigrating to the Kebess during the medieval period and again in the Italian colonial period.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 500) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
“By the 14th century, all the Bilen, Tirgrinya, and Tigre-speaking peoples were Orthodox Christians as were many of the Belew in the lowlands. During this period, the Eritrean region was a center for a monastic revival that accompanied the preaching of Ewostatewos and led to the founding of the great monasteries of Debre Bizen, Debre Maryam, and Debre Merqorewos. In the 15th century, these institutions received huge land grants from Ethiopian emperors anxious to appease the regionalist sentiments of the Tigrinya-based Ewostatian movement. But during the 1500s, Islam spread in the region, and by the mid-1800s, Orthodox Christians were confined almost exclusively to the Tigrinya-speaking population of Kebessa.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 40) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
“In 1520, the Portuguese priest Francisco Alvares spent a month there and described its ‘fortress’-like government buildings and the richness of the surrounding agricultural land.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 162) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
“The medieval capital of central Eritrea, Debarwa is situated in the fertile Tselima district of Seraye on the headwaters of the Mareb, where the trade route from Hamasien to northern Tigray cross the river. This strategic location made it a caravan stop and regional market in the 15th century, when it was chosen as the capital for the Bahre Neashi, the Ethiopian-appointed governor of Mar-eb Mallash.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 162) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
Markets. “The medieval capital of central Eritrea, Debarwa is situated in the fertile Tselima district of Seraye on the headwaters of the Mareb, where the trade route from Hamasien to northern Tigray cross the river. This strategic location made it a caravan stop and regional market in the 15th century, when it was chosen as the capital for the Bahre Neashi, the Ethiopian-appointed governor of Mar-eb Mallash.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 162) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
“The abbots of the great monasteries, and particular Bizen, together with the Nebur-ed of Aksum (a combined ecclesiastical and civil officer), were the most important spiritual authorities in the region, and the church provided the only education available to Christians before the arrival of European missionaries.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 410) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
The following quote suggests that roads were likely present due to various trading routes and the caravan trade. “The medieval capital of central Eritrea, Debarwa is situated in the fertile Tselima district of Seraye on the headwaters of the Mareb, where the trade route from Hamasien to northern Tigray cross the river. This strategic location made it a caravan stop and regional market in the 15th century, when it was chosen as the capital for the Bahre Neashi, the Ethiopian-appointed governor of Mar-eb Mallash.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 162) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
The following quote suggests that trading emporia was likely present. “The medieval capital of central Eritrea, Debarwa is situated in the fertile Tselima district of Seraye on the headwaters of the Mareb, where the trade route from Hamasien to northern Tigray cross the river. This strategic location made it a caravan stop and regional market in the 15th century, when it was chosen as the capital for the Bahre Neashi, the Ethiopian-appointed governor of Mar-eb Mallash.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 162) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
Trading emporia. The following quote suggests that trading emporia was likely present. “The medieval capital of central Eritrea, Debarwa is situated in the fertile Tselima district of Seraye on the headwaters of the Mareb, where the trade route from Hamasien to northern Tigray cross the river. This strategic location made it a caravan stop and regional market in the 15th century, when it was chosen as the capital for the Bahre Neashi, the Ethiopian-appointed governor of Mar-eb Mallash.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 162) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
“The liturgical language of the Orthodox Church and the name for the Tigrinya writing system [Ge’ez]. Ge’ez developed as the language of the Aksumite Empire, derived from the merger of a Semitic South Arabian language and one or more Cushitic languages, but there is some dispute as to whether it was the original root of all the Ethiopic Semitic languages, (including Tigre, Tigrinya, and Amharic) or simply a regional dialect that acquired political predominance during the Aksumite period.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 269) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
“The liturgical language of the Orthodox Church and the name for the Tigrinya writing system [Ge’ez]. Ge’ez developed as the language of the Aksumite Empire, derived from the merger of a Semitic South Arabian language and one or more Cushitic languages, but there is some dispute as to whether it was the original root of all the Ethiopic Semitic languages, (including Tigre, Tigrinya, and Amharic) or simply a regional dialect that acquired political predominance during the Aksumite period.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 269) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
Bible. “By the 14th century, all the Bilen, Tirgrinya, and Tigre-speaking peoples were Orthodox Christians as were many of the Belew in the lowlands. During this period, the Eritrean region was a center for a monastic revival that accompanied the preaching of Ewostatewos and led to the founding of the great monasteries of Debre Bizen, Debre Maryam, and Debre Merqorewos. In the 15th century, these institutions received huge land grants from Ethiopian emperors anxious to appease the regionalist sentiments of the Tigrinya-based Ewostatian movement. But during the 1500s, Islam spread in the region, and by the mid-1800s, Orthodox Christians were confined almost exclusively to the Tigrinya-speaking population of Kebessa.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 40) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
The following quote suggest that religious literature was likely present. “The abbots of the great monasteries, and particular Bizen, together with the Nebur-ed of Aksum (a combined ecclesiastical and civil officer), were the most important spiritual authorities in the region, and the church provided the only education available to Christians before the arrival of European missionaries.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 410) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
“Among Tigrinya Christians, the Church dominated every aspect of social life through its laws, calendar, and ownership of roughly one-third of Kebessa land.” [1]
[1]: (Connell and Killion 2011, 410) Connell, Dan and Killion, Tom. 2011. Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. Second Edition. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/24ZMGPAA/collection
The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, because Medri Bahri was a vassal state to the Ethiopian Empire, it is likely that weight measurements such as this would have existed in Medri Bahri as well. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection
The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, because Medri Bahri was a vassal state to the Ethiopian Empire, it is likely that volume measurements such as this would have existed in Medri Bahri as well. “Volume was sometimes expressed by means of similes rather than by employing units of capacity. This was done by likening an amount of the article to be measured to a) various parts of the human body, b) well known objects, such as grains of corn, beans, lemons and the like, or c) by using other descriptive concepts.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1969, 161) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part II’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 7:2. Pp 99-164. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/MZQWWA6Z/collection
The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, because Medri Bahri was a vassal state to the Ethiopian Empire, it is likely that lenght measurements such as this would have existed in Medri Bahri as well. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection
The quote below discusses the general systems of measurement in Ethiopia, because Medri Bahri was a vassal state to the Ethiopian Empire, it is likely that area measurements such as this would have existed in Medri Bahri as well. “Three basic types of weight concepts may be discerned: firstly, vague ideas of heaviness or lightness obtained merely by lifting objects in the hand, or even by estimating their weight by sight; secondly, basic, but relatively crude concepts such as the porter, donkey, mule and camel-load, which, by reason of their simplicity, may be compared with fundamental measurements in other fields like the length of the human arm, the area ploughed by an ox in a day or the amount held in the hand; and, thirdly, more accurate measurements based on the use of some kind of scales, steelyard or other weighing apparatus.” [1]
[1]: (Pankhurst 1970, 45) Pankhurst, Richard. ‘A Preliminary History of Ethiopian Measures, Weight and Values, Part III’. Journal of Ethiopian Studies. Vol. 8:1. Pp 45-85 Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/collections/GWWIKDDM/items/FZPKE83Z/collection